Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-09-07

mano OF the scientist, that II would seem no ele-
ment Ut law could long elude their piercing scru-
tiny. One would suppose that the eternal secret
Itself would certainly be exposed and explained.
aeS ,ne o,rtn OF molusk, the spark that animates
yeiy nsn or the impulse that vtaiizesf I'm stupid
sponge, are yet an unknown world as impene-
Sfaoie and mysterious as It was in the days OF
THE contradictory and opposite qualities and
powers aScrfbed TO drugs used as remedies are a
constant stumbling block TO students OF medicine
are the opposite OF those with which the same
| substances stood accredited twenty years ago
Inc old cardiac depressants are now cardiac
tonicS. ana rtce cersd- All this proves their un-
reliability. To the thoughtful reasoner it sug-
gestS it does not prove, far more; and that is
based on questionable premises
I'm the absence OF positive knowledge the medi.
cal world amusss Itself with the fanciful re
draplng and etherealizing OF some OF the more
plausible OF the ancient superstitions and IL may
be safely assumed that just in proportion as the
physician places overraith In his drucs-al!ottipy
TO each disease its proper totem@does he neSiecf
ana underrate the natura land non-medicinal
means OF cure which are neither meager nor impo-
tent, and with which there is little OF that uncer-
tainty and contradictorineSs which is such a dis
| tur6ing element In connection with the use OF
"Under the head of natural or non.medtcinal the
rapeutfcs synopsis OF the more important ones
Will not be amiss. First OF all and UNDERLYING an
Is the much studied but little understood subject
or pneumatoiogy. What shall we breathe and
how shall we breathe is more comprehensive In.
qufry than we have ever made It. The vital ele.
iueDJ OF respiration We Know exists In many and
almost opposite conditions; and while It is capa.
Die or almost fnnumerable applications In health
and disease, we have been content 10 study IL only
In ltS casual relations as IL exists in the Quescent
FORM or heterogeneous d1lution In the atmosphere.
Hash OF lightning or current from q galyanie cell
transmutes IT into ozone, state OF which we know
SO little that chemists have not yet settled on a
formula for IT. and OF the possible applications OF
which We know next 10 nothing.
THE FIELD OF THE FUTURE.
"Again, Richardson has found that pure oxygen,
once breathed by warm blooded animal, may be
recovered; and, although carefully purified from
every faint OF the animal gases with which It be-
came charged In the lungs SO that IL win support
combustion as well ever II is no longer capable
chemically responding TO all the tests. 1t is vir-
tually devttalized. II IT be now subjected 10 the
electric current IL is again vttalized and rendered
economy. Mechanical compressor. II carried to a
high degree, produces a similar change.
'fn this direction an untrodden field OF unknown
extent lies before the investigator; since this
same element, OF which We daily and hourly con.
sumo SO much, and OF which We comparatively
know SO little, may be changed In the twtnkling
OF an eye from the sole sustainer OF animal life u
Its swift destroyer.
Furthermore, its capabilities when used with
| other diluents than nitrogen have been but
slightly studied. French authority reports ex.
celent results from inhaations or carbon-deoxide
and oxygen. In France and other foreign coun.
tries II Is being largely substituted for the ordi
nary gasses used In aerating waters, and is thus
taken into the system by the process OF gastric
absorption. LIE Blond Las shown that In this
t0rm IL Is remarkably effective In diabetes. Here
then, Is q held for serious study as wide as the
unmeaSured ocean OF Invisible fluid IN which this
terrestrial ball is forever bathed. The question OF
nutrition Is of scarcely secondary rank and II il
gratifying 10 know that IL is rapidly coming TO be
recognized In proportion to its Importance
study OF the relations or heat and cold in ali
their l1mttleSs applications In health aud disease
II may properly be made to include the vast field
OF cllmatoiogy, the warming and cooling OF build.
ings and hence the whole question OF fuels and
every form OF heat generation In disease cold is the
only antipyritic which is at once natural rational
reliable, ana without disastrous SeQuel& lntelli-
gently manipulated 1t does not require one nurse
TO administer It, and three to watch for and an
galvanism have a wider range than has yet been
accorded them; and say this fully aware OF the
much bungling which has been done with them.
Balneology-the somewhat modern name for Old
fashioned water-cure-is again slowly but this
time permanently coming into deserved recOgni.
tion. 1t viii one day rank as one OF our chief
therapeutic resources. Massage, and every form
OF physical culture, mental, moral, social and
psychic influences, through which so much has
become possible, under the names OF .faith.cure,
ing" and the like light and darkness and all their
Interpretations, from vertical sunlight TO moon.
less and StarleSs midnight all these fruitful fields
have been left as fallow ground, while with MI
croScOpe and crucible, scientists have hunted
down the glucoaides and proximate principles
with zeal aad mlnuteness worthy OF better prac-
teal results.
1.-THE list might be almost unlimitedly extended.
This Is the neld or the future, and OF which the
capabilities for good and evil and comprehensive
ness are yet almost as little known as the vague
and undiscovered realms now lying In front or the
intrepid Stanley. Aud only when we shall have
accorded as much erud1te and discriminating en-
deavOr to the unfolding OF the laws governing the
delicate, as well as profound, uniform and decis-
i've results which may be relied on through an In
teligent appeal TO one or all the natural means
physical recuperation and repair, Will We attain
to sure vantage ground, and point ddppui, from
which to proclaim that Of which we can as yet
but vaguely dream-a genuine and unmistakable
science of medicine"